"People
of Earth, your attention please. This is Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz
of the Galactic Hyperspace Planning Council. Plans for development
of the outlying regions of the galaxy require the building of
a hyperspatial express route through your star system, and regrettably
your planet is scheduled for demolition. The process will take
slightly less than two of your Earth minutes. Thank you"

For Arthur Dent, earthling and homeowner, the severe case of planning
blight announced above is the overture to a quite remarkable set
of travels, guided en route by an equally remarkable book - a
book more popular than the Celestial Home Care Omnibus, cheaper
than the Encyclopedia Galactica, it's... The Hitchhikers Guide
to the Galaxy!

It
began as a radio series. Now it's a paperback. From hereon, anything
literally anything, is suddenly possible.

Review
by William LonginettiRating
8/10
When space travel writer Ford Prefect tells earthling Arthur Dent
at a pub in England that his world is about to end, Dent responds
“This must be Thursday... I never could get the hang of Thursdays.”
The bartender, within earshot, announces “Last orders, please.”
This deadpan gallows humour fills the pages of Douglas Adams'
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and enables the
book to be weighty and thought-provoking without being overly
sentimental. Themes that would make for long passages of deep
existential rumination in another context - the end of the world,
inter-dimensional travel, and of course “the Answer” to the elusive
question of the universe - are hilariously rendered in pithy exchanges
through the collective wit of Adams' characters.

As a work of comic science fiction, The Hitchhiker's Guide
lacks the rigor of so-called “hard” science fiction, but it is
not mere wordplay either. Such ideas as the Heart of Gold (a ship
that uses an “Infinite Improbability Drive” to travel at superlatively
high speeds) or Magrathea (a planet inside of which other planets
are constructed), while they might be scientifically implausible,
nonetheless still provide some great food for thought. Also, there's
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy itself, an encyclopaedic
travel guide of the cosmos which Ford Prefect writes for, and
from which one can learn anything from what to drink in this or
that part of the galaxy to why a towel is the most important item
in any traveller’s luggage.

With its hodgepodge of intrepid travellers and the uncanny events
that befall them, The Hitchhiker's Guide manages to be
fun and exciting almost effortlessly. The crew with whom the protagonist
Arthur Dent hitches a ride includes, among others, a two-headed,
three-armed president-of-the-galaxy-turned-renegade, and a congenitally
depressed super-intelligent robot. To top it all off, at the point
when the characters set about their impromptu voyage, the possibilities
are literally endless (on account of the “Infinite Improbability
Drive”). The Hitchhiker's Guide is the apotheosis of
adventure story.

In a genre that often lends itself to overwrought serials, where
authors ride the wave of a thoroughly original idea to an ineffectual
and creatively desiccated end, Douglas Adams' sensational first
instalment in his now famous Hitchhiker series goes so far on
so little that a desire for much much more is entirely justified.William
Longinetti (19th April 2010)

Review
by ChrissiRating
8/10
This is one of the first "Science-Fiction" books that I can remember
reading, and I have read it several times since.

Those things that stand out most for me are Arthur Dents pyjamas
and dressing gown, and Ford Prefects Towel, they just stay in
my mind and make me smile. Never mind the strange and unlikely
events of the story. It was probably the first time that I had
ever had cause to think that we may not be alone in the universe,
and that if we were not, how would we know?

Anyway,
it really is a classic book, series really if the others were
to be included, and I would heartily recommend it to anyone who
may not even particularly enjoy science fiction.

If
you take away the fact that earth is scheduled to be destroyed,
and replace this as say, your home in the way of the northern
relief road (Birmingham by-pass), then the moral of the story
could just as easily be that to ignore Local Council Planning
Departments could very easily make you homeless, and ignorance
is not an excuse... (nor is not having achieved inter-stellar
travel, but never mind, eh?) .Chrissi
(19th November 2000)

Review
by NigelRating
10/10
Where to begin? This book is such a landmark in humorous fiction
it should be on everyones shelves. All I can say is read this
book, it's fantastic, it's brilliant, you will laugh all the way
through.

What
more can I say? ...ah yes, don't forget your towel :)Nigel
(19th November 2000)